India Demands Change as It Mourns Gang-Rape Victim

The brutal rape of a student has flamed violent protests across New Delhi, where people – especially youths -- turned out in droves to demand justice for the girl, whose identity is being kept under wraps by authorities.

Indian police charged six men with murder Saturday, hours after a New Delhi paramedical student who was gang-raped and beaten on a New Delhi bus two weeks ago succumbed to her injuries at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore. The hospital’s chief executive, Dr. Kelvin Loh, said that the girl was “courageous in fighting for her life for so long against the odds, but the trauma to her body was too severe for her to overcome.”

The brutal rape had flamed violent protests across New Delhi, where people — especially youths — turned out in droves to demand justice for the girl, whose identity is being kept under wraps by authorities. The news of her death on Saturday lurched an already exasperated country into angry but peaceful mourning. The government shut down central New Delhi, closing down major subway stations and banning gatherings of more than five people in the city center. However, that did not deter protesters from gathering at the central area of Jantar Mantar to mourn the girl’s death. Some shouted antirape slogans, while others favored a silent protest with black bands over their mouths. What united the protesters was the palpable antigovernment sentiment.

After news of her death spread, the government, which had clamped down on protests last week and is often accused of being tin-eared, rushed to calm frayed nerves. “We have already seen the emotions and energies this incident has generated,” said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a statement. “These are perfectly understandable reactions from a young India and an India that genuinely desires change. It would be a true homage to her memory if we are able to channel these emotions and energies into a constructive course of action.”

The rape has also sparked a national debate in India on violence against women. Before her condition worsened in a New Delhi hospital last week, the girl told her mother that she didn’t want to die. But martyrdom, thrust upon her, has made her an unwitting symbol of India’s fight against sexual violence. Her death is a stark reminder of the hundreds of women who are awaiting justice in India, where one rape is reported every 20 minutes.

Sonia Gandhi, the head of the ruling Congress Party and India’s most powerful politician, also addressed the nation in a rare television appearance: “I appeal you to remain calm and help strengthen our collective resolve to fight the menace of violence against women,” she said. “Today all Indians feel as they have lost their own beloved daughter, their cherished sister, a young woman of 23 whose life full of hope, dream and promise was ahead of her.” The tragedy, Gandhi added, deepened the government’s “determination to battle the pervasive shameful social attitudes and mind-sets that allow men to rape and molest women and girls with such impunity.” Meanwhile, Delhi’s Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, who called the incident shameful for her as an administrator and a common citizen, had joined around 500 protesters at Jantar Mantar. However, she was forced to leave as angry protesters swirled around her. “Our hearts are burdened with grief and shame,” Dikshit had said earlier. “Not the moment for words or speeches but for deep reflection.”

Arun Jaitley, of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, said it was time to introspect on how to improve existing laws and judicial processes and, most importantly, the “consciousness of the citizenry which creates a better environment where women can live with dignity.” Indian President Pranab Mukherjee called the victim a “true hero” and a “brave daughter of India” and urged everyone to resolve “this death will not be in vain.” Human-rights defenders too reacted to the Delhi tragedy. Human Rights Watch said the death of the victim was a “sobering reminder of the vast tragedy of sexual violence in India.”

On Saturday, a few hundred students from Jawaharlal Nehru University marched silently to the bus stop where the rape victim and her friend had boarded the bus on Dec. 16. They carried placards reading: “She Is Not With Us but Her Story Must Awaken Us.” The New Delhi tragedy certainly united Indians in their pursuit of justice for the victim. While murder charges and subsequent convictions would no doubt appease popular sentiment in the short run, the girl’s death seems likely to haunt India’s policymakers for years to come. That may be the only takeaway in the tragic death of an unknown girl in the world’s largest democracy. “Her greatest betrayal,” filmmaker Shekhar Kapur wrote on Twitter, “is that we will forget. Political system’s greatest hope is we will forget. Our only redemption is if we do not forget.”

It was a few weeks before the general elections that I found a close
friend (who also happens to be a political activist for change) in an
upbeat mood. It turned out that he and his party colleagues were
expecting to get enough seats in the National Assembly so as to be able
to form a coalition government and implement their agenda for a ‘New
Pakistan’.I looked at the man and remarked that while his passion
was commendable, he and his political leadership were detaching
themselves from ground realities. I added that there were two things
wrong with his party. First, its Chairman was headstrong and second, he
was naively ignorant of how politics was played in the ‘land of the
pure’. My friend retorted that ridding Pakistani politics of
corruption, lies and intrigue was one of the changes that his party
wanted to bring about. I wished him good luck with the warning that come
the Eleventh Day of May, he and his colleagues would be at the
receiving end of election malpractices, the likes of which he would
least expect.Election Day came and went amidst disturbing television
coverage of ‘rigging’ in Sindh and Punjab. People across the country
waited in vain as an apathetical Election Commission ignored
incriminating video footage and did nothing. I met my friend, the
political activist, again somewhere in the middle of Ramazan and asked
him out of journalistic curiosity, if his party had learned some lessons
and would corrective action be taken during the by-elections? He looked
embarrassed, but then informed me that his leadership was not likely to
make the same mistakes twice. I could not resist telling him that the
first such error had already been committed by the ‘cricket skipper
turned politician’, when he chose to relinquish his home seat in
Mianwali. I added that under the circumstances, I would give PTI only a
50 percent chance of victory in this constituency. Just one week
before the by-polls, I commented to a fellow media person that Pakistan
Tehrik-i-Insaaf was likely to suffer a setback in Peshawar. I cited many
reasons for my prediction, one being that the government in that
province appeared to be bogged down and confused, leaving the
over-expectant voter frustrated. The PTI nomination for NA 1 also
confirmed the notion that the weak spot in Imran Khan’s strategy had
exacerbated, providing an opportunity which would be exploited by a
seasoned party such as the ANP. The results on Twenty Second of August
proved that I was right on both counts.As the largest by-elections
in Pakistan’s electoral history approached, I thought that unlike May,
there was a lack of ‘fire’ in the PTI campaign. Unable to put my finger
on any other cause, I could only attribute the phenomenon to
complacency.My views on the ‘efficacy’ of the Election Commission
were lent strength, when the Prime Minister addressed the nation just
before the by-polls. The timing of this speech was in my reckoning, a
violation of the Election Code of Conduct and the CEC should have
advised the PM to postpone the broadcast till the voting was done and
results announced.The process of electing members to the National
and Provincial Assemblies is now complete and the recently concluded
phase in this process has been, by and large, free of any controversy,
due more to the presence of the army at sensitive polling stations. In
Lahore, only one constituency has regretfully become a test case for the
Acting CEC. It would, perhaps, be in the fitness of things and in the
interest of democracy that the Election Commission investigates this
complaint and puts controversy at rest.The ‘Pundits of Doom’, who
insist that change has not come, must look around - for a change has
taken place. It is visible in opposing candidates congratulating their
opponents on winning; it is visible in toning down of meaningless
rhetoric and promises; above all, it is visible in the fact that an
elected government, howsoever inept, completed its tenure giving way to
another democratically-elected successor.

KARACHI - On shaping the new local bodies system in Sindh, the crucial talks between the PPP and MQM ended without conclusion.MQM
delegation comprising on MQM Coordination Committee member Kanwar
Naveed Jamil, MQM parliamentary leader in National Assembly Dr Farooq
Sattar, opposition leader in Sindh Assembly Faisal Sabzwari, the
parliamentary leader in Sindh Assembly Syed Sardar Ahmed called on PPP
ministerial committee members. The PPP committee members include Sindh
Senior Education Minister Nisar Khuhro, Provincial Information Minister
Sharjeel Memon. and Provincial Law Minister Dr Sikander Mandehro at the Chief Minister House here on Thursday.MQM
delegation categorically stated to the Sindh government delegation that
in the light of the Constitution’s Article 140-A, MQM wants to
establish effective and powerful local government system.The second round of negotiations will be held on August 17.Earlier, the PPP claimed that the bill is a balanced one and party will try to convince all the stakeholders on the LG Bill. According
to sources, union of MQM with the provincial government would be marvel
as MQM has come close to the ruling party PML-N in centre.It is
likely that MQM will reject the Local Bodies Bill 2013 as it wants more
powers of the local bodies in the cities of Sindh. The MQM will stick to
its prior demand of restoring the SPLGO passed last year.On the
other hand, PPP has decided to accommodate the vision of the
stakeholders by prolonging the date of its passage in viewing the
Supreme Court’s deadline. It will also be crucial for the PPP to take
PML-F, PML-N and Sindh nationalists on board while those carries
conflicting views on PPP‘s formulated drafts of local bodies.It is
pertinent to mention here that Sindh nationalist parties had given tough
time to PPP and its former ally MQM ahead of the promulgation of the
Sindh Peoples Local Government Ordinance 2012. Following the pressure,
the PPP’s former government restored the system of 1979 by replacing the
SPLGO 2012.

India has many call centres. When people outside India are contacted by one of these call centres, they should refuse to talk to male staff and demand to be helped by a female collaegue instead. The reason for this refusal should be linked to the rape case in whatever wording is deemed appropriate.When sufficient people follow this approach a very strong message to Indian society is given that their behaviour towards rape and rape victims is totally unacceptable to the rest of the world and will impact their position in the world.

A strong message needs to be sent to the Men in Indian Society.The Best way to make a start is that for all of the 6 Men accused they need to be given 2 Forms of Punishment:Firstly,Chemically Casserate them and then secondly Hang all of them and make the Photos public.

This will deter a lot of men even before they think of doing something like this again even if they are drunk or under drugs.

Indians are outraged have been demanding the death penalty for the six men, holding demonstrations almost every day since the rape but i wonder why they turned a blind eye to the rapes commited by India Army in occupied Kashmir.

The transformation of India from a rural/agricultural economy to an Industrial one will force more social issues to be confronted by men. No longer is a woman dependent on the man for monetary support and her education gives her the confidence to question male values. The high incidence of rape shows all signs of men losing the argument and hence seek to dominate by force. Increasing the police force or judges will not solve the problem. Men will come to terms with the new reality, but the process will be slow in a deeply conservative society

India is far from the dynamic powerhouse often reported in the media. India has a very dark side with child trafficking, slavery, wife killings, female child killings, and so on. There is a small % of the population who exist in a more enlightened age but even those are surrounded by wretched poverty stricken servants. I'm not surprised that he government didn't do much, after all this is a country where children are intentionally crippled so they can raise more money for their "owners" by begging. The Indians' evil attitude comes from the belief that if you are disabled you did something in a previous life to deserve it; therefore they don't help the less fortunate as that would be going against karma.

Doesn't the US have a culture of gun violence, child abuse, slavery,racism, religious bigotry? No major nation is blame-free in thissense. If you need evidence go to the streets of Chicago, Washington,D.C., Baltimore, and all of Louisiana. "The Indians' evil attitudecomes from the belief that if you aredisabled you did something in a previous life to deserve it; thereforethey don't help the less fortunate as that would be going againstkarma.". Your attitude is d$spicable. No person would intentionallynot help a disabled person, in fact India's scriptures state thatservice to every human being whether disabled/poor/destitute is serviceto God. The small middle class population that you are talking about isabout the size of US population. So, get rid of the hatred in you andbe a good human being.

"The Indian democratic system seemingly can't solve these problems but provides legitimacy for them." Rape is a wide spread even a part of the Indian Culture as is considered to be a source of pride and moral victory, Low Caste woman are often raped by High caste men, in any case scenario these poor victim can not get any justice: exactly same thing was happed to a low caste girl who revolted against the system to become the bandit queen (Phoolan Devi).A first information report (FIR) was filed against Punjabi rapper in Lucknow on Monday over allegedly vulgar lyrics of his song, the complainant said. The complaint was lodged by senior Indian Police Service officer Amitabh Thakur for the "extremely vulgar and indecent songs" like "Main hun balatkaria" (I am a rapist).The FIR, number 606, was registered at Gomtinagar police station in the city."

@JoanEli U've been having only one string to Ur conversational violin and that's PHOOLAN Devi. Apparently U don't know anything about India.

If the democratic system can't solve the problem, then what's that which is going to solve the problem? Oh yes, we'll import @JoanEli and make her the Dictator of India and she's going to solve all the problem.

People like U can't make out the difference between the system and the people working in the system. If political leaders aren't doing their job then we'll make them do it. We fight for it. But we don't trash the democratic system. India has been democratic, politically since independence in 1947, but democratic structure has been imbibed in Indian culture since time immemorial.

Yes, there are faults and there are short comings. There have been manipulations at various levels. The rich and the powerful classes manipulating the rest, similar to all the world cultures. So stop trashing the Indian Democracy.

Unfortunately ibtlius the rape is very wide-spread in the world but is it a reason not to fight i? Every human being, man or woman is entitled to the respect and to the dignity.If men and women were not pases battu for ideas and values, we would still be there in the time of the serfs, of the right of cuisage, colonies and what still know I.As human being I get indignant but as mother of two boys I try hard to inculcate them values of respect face to face for others and for women in particular.

I do not consider as a feminist and even less as a moralizer. We can too sweep in front of our door.I hope only that these men who committed for me a barbaric act in the same way as what passed recently in United States will be severely punished.I want to believe that the World can change.

Do not forget that the oceans are formed by one billion dropletsA French which likes your country

Rape is common. All around the world. In every country whether it is so-called 'developed' or 'developing'. No government can protect its every citizen from every crime that occurs. Even in the mighty United States. Sweden tops the world rape crime numbers. Its funny feminists, female journalists take out processions or write arcticle only if the victim is female, what about rape of little boys in churches? what about rape of men in prisons? Heard of any women's groups ONCE...EVER... coming out in protests for them?

6 illiterate men from the lowest strata of Indian society, a South Delhi SLUM, who got together in a private chartered bus (with tinted windows) in a secluded area for late-night alcohol influenced binge drinking, happened to commit that heinous crime against a hapless woman who boarded that bus by mistake thinking it is was public bus. Though in no way it justifies any kind of violence, it is important that people understand the WHOLE context.

The Indian media is flooded by female journalists these days whose only care or concern or obsession is with regard to news about women and WOMENS AFFAIRS ONLY. Hence any injustice to women even if it occurs at a local town or village level is blown out of proportion and forced to present it as front page national news and subsequently to international media through their counterparts in the west who will gladly and gleefully publish and get sanctimonious about it knowing fully well the underbelly of their own societies are no better.

There are thousands of rape cases in the US every year but none of them make it to the national news. Only when it invovles high profile celebrities it is covered by the US national media. A supposedly 'developed' society bears witness to 26 people including 20 elementary school children savagely slaughtered in cold-blood and after a week it has been brushed aside as the 24/7 hotness of the news fades out of public memory. Where are the protest marches and vigils across its cities? Where is the change to become civiized human beings not out to slaughter each other on a day to day basis? Anyone marching for those innocent children? Little girls are kidnapped from their homes and held as sex slaves, or forced to become child-brides of some christian sects...some chopped and buried in the woods...many by serial killing. Those problems are real and it has to be addressed. Is the entire US population painted as serial killers or murderous savages? Then why is the double standard?

Only in India it will happen... Half-baked Indian female journlists for their 15 minutes of fame will do anything for it.... It is a proverbial curse on the Indian society...Just like how the land of the kamasutra, a once free society was occupied, brutalized and traumatized by the savage Middle-eastern desert cult Islamic rulers since the 11th century and later by the colonization of it by the British, India has and always been a victim of outside forces. It was able to finally catch it breath since 1947. It will take time to heal its old wounds, stagger and turn its way around. There will be missteps and bungles along the way but it will get to live up to its promise.

It took the United States 236 years to be what it is now...Not a paradise of the world but a democracy in progress that is still trying to perfect a union. India is on 65 at the moment.. It shouldnt take that long!

@ibtlius Rapes are common all around the world, however the brutality and animal like behaviour with girl after the rape was the more shocking for all the people. Delhi is already known as Rape capital of India due to number of Rapes happen there every hour either molestation or rape and thats the reason all activist either Male or female are protesting. I cant describe the ordeal of girl who gone in coma 5 times after the incident and who genetials were torned beoynd repair due to iron rod used by Rapist.

@krish_1 In the city I live in US, a man ate another man's face alive under the influence of bath salts. Are you still surprised by animal behavior? Heck ask the Germans! they were not even intoxicated or using bath salts when they did what they did to the Jews during the holocaust!

The six men already with low IQ and in an intoxicated state were capable of anything under a pack-like situation. What were the words exchanged between them and the woman and her companion....probably the reason it escalated to such unnatural heights when comparing to other rapes in Delhi. We can only speculate by reasoning at this point.

@ibtlius Your mess of an argument/rant beggars logic and reason. Are you trying to say that a gang rape followed by mutilation of inner organs is a "misstep" or a "bungle"?? I think your view is myopic and misogynistic to say the least. You say that this is an opportunity for "half-baked" (that reminds me, please cite the journalistic credentials you possess that give you the authority to call all these media persons "half-baked") Indian female journalists to claim their 15 minutes of fame. If you actually saw the news reports we have been watching in India these days, you would know that the most vehement condemnation has issued from male journalists, and famous ones at that, like Arnab Goswami. Also, you talk about not enough light being shed on sexual abuse suffered by young boys. I think most people would agree that this is absolutely untrue. When the Catholic Church and the Pope himself was forced to accept the truth of sexual abuse of young boys, the whole world, including people like me in a small town of Guwahati in India read and watched all about it. And as for crimes in the US not being highlighted, forgive my language but let me just say; b**** please. Our newspapers and TV channels are flooded by news of Trayvon Martin, hurricane Sandy, the Woodsboro baptist church's picketing of the funerals of Newtown victims. I don't think it could ever be said that America and her tragedies are not given the most coverage by media worldwide. If anything, developing countries and their problems are barely addressed in international media. Having said that, I firmly believe that no two tragedies should be compared. Would you say that parents of the young victims in Newtown will have a tougher life now, compared to parents of the Columbine tragedy? Similarly, crimes against men and women are both equally heinous. It just so happens that, at least in India, crimes against women are perpetrated in much higher numbers. Every week, there are at least 10 rapes reported in the papers. These go unsolved BECAUSE NO ONE RAISES A HUE AND CRY. That is why it is so important that ALL JOURNALISTS here keep reporting the developments. As for TIME keeping its international readers abreast of the latest happenings in this tragedy, I think it is merely doing its journalistic duty. Besides, if I'm not wrong, the issue goes deeper than a horrific crime. It is symptomatic of the deep misogyny and chauvinism prevalent in India, where women are banned from even owning cell phones in some parts as they may use it develop relationships with men outside their "caste" and community. And the governments do little to change this. This is why it is so important that the issue gets the attention it rightly deserves. Please don't belittle the abuse suffered by women in villages and cities of India or any other country. Dismissing such barbaric crimes as "missteps" and "fumbles" on the way to being a democracy is fundamentally wrong. Only by ensuring that every criminal receives punishment and every victim gets justice, can a nation and its people truly be called a democracy.

@asingleflame Classic female strategy ... Take unrelated words used in different areas and in different contexts, mix and twist them to make up a false accusation or argument. To see that happen in the last three generations of women like clockwork, doesn't surprise me a bit. I dont blame you as it is in your nature to do so :-), always coming out of raw emotion!

Though the following is going to be a failed attempt of mine to help load reason into that empty space between your closed emotional ears, let me take a shot at it.

If you care to look into the root of social evils in developing nations, everything stems from lack of economic progress which when realized has a multiplier effect into gaining all other freedoms. The great Indian middle class is a shining example of that in action now. The western world was rotting for centuries in that same state until colonization of resource rich countries helped them to gain those economic freedoms and paved the way in gaining all others. The colonized or occupied countries were the casualties who bore those repeated brutalities inflicted on them and had its destructive effects on their societies losing all their freedoms where essential survival was the only goal in life and nothing else mattered paving the way for every layer of society coming up with their own scheming ways and bear witness or be causative agents to callousness or lethargy to evils. Do you even know the history of the Indian police force from it inception and what is rooted in?

Dont ever talk about the Indian English media, every one of them are wholly owned subsidiaries of their colonial masters. It doesnt matter how many degrees you have or how fluent you are in English, if you are an intellectual slave, it doesnt matter how many gandhi's may come and free the nation, you will always be a subservient slave finding a way to go back to monarchy or clan rule. E.g., the overwhelming pressure from Indian media for Sonia/Rahul dynastic rule.

By 'Misstep' or 'bungle', I meant ways and means to fix economic, social and justice systems.

So your saying BIOLOGICALLY speaking ANY DRUNK CAPABLE OF FATHERING A CHILD XY IS BY DESIGN OF MOTHER NATURE TO BE A RAPIST WHO LEAVES HIS VICTIM OUT IN THE STREET NAKED WHILE HER GUTS ARE SPILLED OUT. I'd like to see you back that up with an IRREFUTABLE up to date research because you just totally MISSED out on other "primitive" cultures across the world that would prove you otherwise. Also, situational awareness is your answer to reducing rape incidents. It's up to victims themselves and I'M NOT talking just about women, to watch out for themselves. Forget about community effort yielding higher probability of better results, by that i mean law enforcers doing what they're PAID to do and that is ensuring public safety.

Because the perpertrators are illiterate this makes this incident carry less weight. Your leaving people with the general assumption that illiteracy makes people immoral. Ignore the fact, that part of the reason why crimes like this are committed is there is laxity in law enforcement, what does a bus need tinted windows for?

Granted, that most Indian female journalist have more conviction when it comes to women affairs. At the very least, it's something with VALUE and SUBSTANCE. And even when things get blown out of proportion at the very CORE there is a cultural and social practice that doesn't go by "common sense".

@asingleflame Thats why I told you in the beginning.... everything I say here will pass miles above your head. Thats what happens when you are in your 20's. You have no time or patience to understand any issues at depth. Dont worry, that phase will soon pass as you grow older, you will eventually gain maturity and a better understanding of the world that you live in and its innate complexities. Nothing has any quick fixes and everything takes time..many wont happen in your life time and even after some generations. Once the underlying economic factors are eventually addressed and the effects reach a certain threshold, the resulting tide will lift all other boats on where it needs to be.

Unitl then, continue with the group therapy sessions with the other lasses on how men are vile, evil creatures and you were the 'chosen' ones who were 'needed' to 'save' your kind.

Oh, get married and have some kids of your own. That will lift the fog on your lenses. You will thank me for that.

@ibtlius yeah you definitely need help. What you've done with your sick monologue here is stripped away any validity that any of your arguments may have ever had. You see, nothing a delusional person says carries any weight. But I'm sure you already knew that; as you do EVERYTHING ELSE. By the way, your condescension is only outdone by your delusion. I sincerely hope you keep taking your medications. Believe me, you are a far way off from recovery. This is my last reply. Keep posting and validating what you've already shown yourself to be in this public forum :D

@asingleflame Who were the perpetrators?, What were they?, In what MENTAL STATE they were in.... What were the EXACT WORDS exchanged between the woman, her companion and those six low-life's?.... How did that escalate and prompted a response of that unnatural magnitude?..... Every bleeping thing matters. An intoxicated brain behaves in strange ways..especially in pack state, it is devoid of any restraints.. Today's 'educated' women of India have lots and lots of college degrees but not enough real intelligence....Things like situational awareness are fundamental in any environment whether it is in the developed or developing world. If you tend to mix it up with the 'equality' farce that your sisterhood of travelling pants have brainwashed you into, guess who pays the penalty?...Sorry to break it to you...but when things comes down to the wire, everything boils down to its primitive instincts and capabilities...common sense is your only savior at that point.

I know you liked it!...Guess what.. Truth has that effect, so don't be surprised.

I couldn't care less with that classic strategy of labeling men misogynistic, loony (have anything else ?) just because they don't agree with you (I'm actually turned on by it)...So, keep'em coming honey!

@ibtlius thank you for reaffirming my suspicions with your self-righteous and superiority-complex infused rant..AGAIN! :) your entire middle paragraph starting from "if you care to....rooted in" has no relation to the context of the crime. Your reply suggests that economic backwardness is the main reason for rape (since that is the specific crime in question) in previously "colonized" countries, then I guess no rich guy in India was ever implicated in a rape, right?

I don't deny the fact that the media is controlled by the powerful 1% in our country (as everywhere else). But that doesn't take away from the fact that this girl was tortured and left to die on the streets along with her brutally beaten male friend. Do you mean to say that since the media consists of journalists who are controlled by a powerful group, they can never report ANYTHING CORRECTLY? The media is just highlighting the anger of the people. Believe me, those old men and women getting battered by the cops' batons at the protest site are not "half-baked journalists" and they are not doing it to get their 15 mins of fame. They're doing it because they've had enough of the silence on the issue and the constant sweeping-under-the-rug.

Lastly, your description of the "empty space between the closed emotional ears" is delightfully misogynistic to say the least. :) Thank you for shedding some light on why you wrote what you did. Makes it so much easier to understand where EXACTLY you're coming from. The looney bin called, your straitjacket misses you.

If in some remote village somebody banned women from using a cellphone, U apply it to the entire country. It's because our society is civilized that today we are out on the streets condemning it.

It's because our society is a STRONG democracy that people are coming out in media, and streets of every city and town across the nation that they are publicly criticizing every politician on their face.

The Chief Minister of Delhi to politicians in Hyderabad were forced to leave the site of protest. So have some faith in the people of India

@NandaKishoreN That is why I wrote in SOME parts. My post has probably given you the impression of our society being barbaric and democracy being weak, because that's how you yourself interpreted it. In my part, all I did was tell @ibtlius that why it is important that media highlights this story...because women ARE subjected to such injustice very often in India. You didn't get why I mentioned that in my post. Not to show that we are barbaric, but to stress that the situation in some parts of India are definitely not favorable for women, compared to many other developed countries perhaps.

@asingleflame@NandaKishoreN I quote Urself ... "misogyny and chauvinism prevalent in India, where women are banned from even owning cell phones in some parts" I'm sorry but though U used "... some parts" it is actually giving an impression that in general various parts of the entire country are like that.

I thought, Ur post has given an impression for a reader that the society is pretty barbaric and our democracy is pretty weak. That's why I made those TWO points.

@NandaKishoreN Beg to differ. Your reply implied that I meant that our's is not a strong democracy. Also, it implies that since I mentioned the banning of cellphones by the khap panchayats, I must mean that this happens in our entire country; which by the way, was NOT what I meant and this is quite clear from the way I worded my reply to @ibtlius I must again say that your reply missed the point of my argument; by a mile.

@NandaKishoreN I think you misunderstood the point of my reply. No where have I mentioned that I have no faith in my own people. I was merely pointing out to @ibtlius the holes in his argument. Sorry, but you seem to have missed the point of both his and my comments.

This recent horrific gang rape in Delhi can be a watershed event for the world’s largest democracy. Unprecedented protesting in the capital city has put increasing pressure on lawmakers to crack down on enforcement and fast-track the court system. It will take too long and cost too many lives unless we come together as civic and corporate communities to unite and empower real change. We need the support of American companies doing business in India.I am suggesting that the horrible death and painful suffering of this young woman and the thousands like her who go unreported require us to model the values of a global community who will condemn such violence and ensure safe spaces for women and men in the communities we serve. Please sign this petition asking American companies doing business in India to condemn this horror and ensure public safety. Link: http://www.change.org/petitions/american-companies-doing-business-in-india-condemn-the-horrific-gang-rape-in-delhi-ensure-public-safety

By the way cold and cruel than the bevy of immature animals did to this poor child, who seems to countries like India, still live in the Holocene period, when modern humans arose post efluviação end of troglodytes. How can a bunch of animals attacking a poor defenseless girl to satisfy his animal instinct that caterva in practice bestial sex?I do not know the form of government of this country, famous for all I know, the life philosophy of gurus such as fakir, which lies on top of nails, sleeps with snake and other breguessos, that perhaps some of algesia not feel like the pain.Is that why these cowardly acts of rape is no limit of tolerance in this country, which seems to have more animals than rational beings?I think within the emmetropia of any civilized country, women should be respected as much as the man.But the demonstration of savagery in these animals, it seems that INDIA, still did not stop living in the stone age.I do not know how to send condolences vote of the bereaved family, but the pain we feel in the civilized world, is something a lot of grief and anger, the way that this poor child dismisses land.Djalma Saraiva FilhoImperatriz-MaranhãoBrazil

@djalmasaraivafilho Seriously darling. You live in Brazil and you are trying to be sanctimonious, holier-than-though about rape and crime? Unlike Brazil, Prostitution especially, child prostitution and sex trafficking are NOT LEGAL in India.

6 illiterate men from a South Delhi SLUM, who got together in a private chartered bus (with tinted windows) in a secluded area for late-night alcohol influenced binge drinking, happened to commit that heinous crime against a woman who boarded that bus by mistake.

Now get back to that hole of yours and try to clean up your country before commenting on crime in other nations.

Looks like Brazil is a paradise and does not have uncivilized people at all. Umm but afaik child prostitution is rampant and a booming business (google brazil child prostitution). So go and soul search your own problems first. Every country has problems and it rises up to them in different ways, India will too, unless ofcourse it evolves to be the ultimate civilized society where little children are shot and it is all forgotten when the next headline news bite takes over.

Rape is a wide spread problem in India, In some sanerios even a part of culture where low cast women are often raped by high cast men who dont consider it a sin and even take pride of their action. In any case sanerio a low cast raped woman would not get any justice against upper cast, exactly same thing was happed to a low cast girl who revolted to be the bandit queen Phoolan Devi.

@JoanEli The irritant here is that a few prejudiced Westerners try to put a sanctimonious mask to their cultures and countries. The news of sexual abuse of women is not uncommon in other countries. But wording it like "... a wide spread problem in INDIA." shows the chauvinistic attitude of the writers.

Yes, in villages the "scenario" (I wud prefer to put it as instead of sanerio); so what was I writing, yes, the scenario of low caste (not cast) women being raped by powerful upper caste men exists.

But the problems of Urban India are quite different from that. The guys who raped the 23yr old Delhi Braveheart (as we are calling her) is an extreme form of cruelty. But they aren't powerful men. There was a bus-driver, his brother and friends. Basically they were from uneducated, labourer families. In some of these slums we are coming across cases where some slum dwellers rape the minor children from the neighbouring houses.

On the other hand heinously, we are coming across cases where some family members are reported to have raped. If we start listing out there's no end to it; people in power many times, some professors, doctors and police authorities, we find sexual abuse and rape cases from across the different classes and categories of people.

So trying to define something just for the sake of pointing fingers on India and attaining the monstrous pleasure isn't funny. Sexual Abuse and Rape are serious issues.

A quote from a paper "The Indian democratic system seemingly can't solve these problems but provides legitimacy for them." It is part of the Indian Culture "A first information report (FIR) was filed against Punjabi rapper in Lucknow on Monday over allegedly vulgar lyrics of his song, the complainant said. The complaint was lodged by senior Indian Police Service officer Amitabh Thakur for the "extremely vulgar and indecent songs" like "Main hun balatkaria" (I am a rapist).The FIR, number 606, was registered at Gomtinagar police station in the city."

I think this nasty case may finally force India's multiple racial and ethnic groups to come to grips with this reality: they can no longer treat females like second-class citizens (or worse). It is this very treatment of females that causes them to be mistreated on a scale few Westerners can understand....

The public opinion is in favor of stricter laws against rape. I think there are plenty of laws to address the issues. What India needs is a fair treatment to those who come forward to report rape. A case in point is one young girl committing suicide because she was urged or intimidated against registering a FIR in Punjab. This is not the first time such outside pressures are applied. Powerful politicians and local warlords have made it, practically impossible for a woman to start the process.

Moreover, the so called, 'two finger,' requirement, as a part of the medical procedure conducted by a doctor to determine if the woman, naturally, unmarried, has previously engaged in sexual conduct.

To avoid scandal, parents themselves suppress admitting rape.

Society has not taken any side over other similar sexual issues. For instance child sex abuse. I suggest a good books:

Hanging or killing the 6 accused is not the solution. While we try to reform the laws and breed equality, I hope that India somehow makes an example of the 6 perpetrators. Death penalty does not do justice. Take their eyes out and amputate their limbs and place them at street corners to beg and make sure they live a looong life of complete darkness. That would be right for them.

I know violence and hate are not to be propagated., so pardon me for saying this. But, the way they treated the young girl, I find it hard to be rational when thinking of an appropriate punishment to be inflicted.